Electrical connecter device



April 15 1924. 1,490,195

R. B. BENJAMIN ELECTRICAL CONNECTER DEVICE Filed Aug. 11, 1917 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ELECTRICAL CONNECTBR DEVICE Filed Aug. 11. 1917 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i/zf/mizrasi' fl a i jays-21%? 4 M. fM 6 7 i 39% W! Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

v REUBEN B. BENJAMIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOR TO BENJAMIN ELECTR muracronme COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOI S, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ELECTRICAL CONNECTER DEVICE continuation of application Serial No. 823,234, filed Karen 7, 1914. This application filed August 11, 1917. Serial No. 185,782.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN B. BENJA- mm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electrical Connector Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawing, forming apart of this specification.

Mv invention relates to electrical connecter evices.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide improved means whereby receptacle devices of difl'erent types may be interchangeably secured to the same wiring base. Further objects will appear from the detailed description to follow and from the ap ended claims.

11 the drawings illustrative of my invention Figure 1 is a side elevation of a receptacle and quick-detachable connector device;

Fig. 2 is an axial section of the receptacle shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an axial section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a. plan view of the lower portion of the receptacle;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5---5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a cord-extension device connected with the wirin base shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a p an view of the cord-extension cap of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an axial section showing a different type of wiring base and receptacle;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is asection on the, line l0--10 of Fig. 11 is a section on the line 1111 of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 12 is a section on the line 12-12 of Fi 10.

eferring now to the drawings in detail,

and first to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the construction here shown comprises a wiring base 15, a quick-detachable receptacle memher 16, and a quick-detachable cap 17 which may be a cap such as used in a separable attachment plug for quick-detarhablc cu- ,gagement with the receptacle portion 16.

The wiring base comprises an insulating member 18 havin a pair of binding terminals 19 secured tiereto. The insulating member 18 is housed and secured to an internally-threaded bushing 20 by means of a sheet-metal cap 21. The cup :21 may be secured to the insulating member 18 by means of an annular imvardly-extending head 22 on the ca 21, which engages a corresponding annu ar groove in the insulating member 18. The cap 21 may be held from rotation with respect to the insulatingmember 18 by means of indentations 23 on the cap which engage corresponding depressions in the insulating member. The cap 21 may be secured to the bushing 20 by means of a tubular neck portion 24 on the bushing 20, which extends through and engages a corresponding portion 25 on the cap 21. Engaging parts of the neck portions 2-1 and are slitted to form prongs which are bent outwardly, thereby pcrventing relative rotation between the neck portions 21 and 25.

Each biriding-terminal 1!) comprises a binding-screw 26 (Fig. 5) the head of which is located in a recess 27 in the lower face of the insulating member 18, and a plate (Figs. 3 and 5) into which the bindingscrew 26 is threaded, located in a recess 29 in the upper face of the iinsulating member 18. The plate 28 may be held in place and insulated by means of a sealing insulating compound 30, which may be melted and poured into the recess 29, where it cools and hardens.

The receptacle member or portion 16 comprises an insulating member 31 and a pair of quick-detachable contacts 32 supported thereby for engagement with the contacthladcs 33 of the cap 17. Each contact 32 is electrically connected with one of the con ductor plates 28 by means of a conductorstrip 34 which engages the base portion 35 of the contacts 32 (Fig. 2}, a tubular metal eyelet 36 which secures the strip 34 to the insulating member 31 (Fig. 3), and a screw 37 which extends through the eyelet 36 and through an opening in the insulating member 18 and is threaded into the conductor plate 28. These screws 37 also serve to mechanically connect the insulating memberiil to the insulating member 18.

The contacts 32 are held in place on the insulating member 31 and in electrical con tact with the strip 31: by means of a screw 38 (Figs. 1 and 2). threaded into a metal clamping member 39 which bears down on the strip 34 and base portion 35 to hold the contacts 32 firmly in place and to hold the portions 34 and 35 in good electrical connection. A strip of insulation is interposed between the clamping member 39 and the strip 34 to prevent short-circuiting.

In wiring the device the internally-threaded bushing 20 is screwed 0n the end of a screw-threaded nipple. or the like. the insulatin member 3!. brin detached from the r insulating member 18. The teed-wires 41 are then secured underneath the heads of the screws '26 (Fig. 5). The insulating member 31 with its associated parts is then secured in place with respect to the insulating member 18 by threading the screw 37 into the conducting plate 28. The screw 37 is prevented from falling out of the eyelet 36 by means of friction washers 42 (Fig. of fiber or other suitable material. the edges of the openings of which engage the screw 3? tightly enough to prevent the screw from falling out.

The circuit is from one of the fecdavires 41 through one of the bimling-scrcws 26, one of the comliu-tor-platcs .23. one of the screws 37. one of? the eyelets 36. one of the conductor-strips 34. one of the contacts 3;, one of the contacts 33, through the translating device to the other contact 33. contact 32, eolnlnetor-strip 3i. eyelet 3G. screw 53?, conductor plate 28. and binding-screw 26 to the other feed-wire 41.

In Figs. 6 and 7 l have shown a cord-c tension cap substituted for the l't'r-cptai'le device 16; the insulating. member 18. the cap 2.1, the binding-terminals l9. and the screws 37 are the same as in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive.

The cord-extension comprises an insulating member 43 and a pair of binding-terminals 44 supported thereby. Each binding terminal 44 comprises a binding-plate 45 secured to the insulating member -13 by means of an eyelet 46, and a bintling screw 47 threaded into the binding-plate 45. The bindingpla'te 45 is electrically connected with the conductor-plate 28 through the eyelot 46 and the screws 31'. The screws :37 also serve to mechanically connect the insulating member 43 with the'insulating member 18.

In wiring the device the insulating Infill ber 43 is detached from the insulating member 18, and the cord-extensions is are led up through the opening 49 in the insulating member 43 and secured beneath the heads of the binding-screws 47. The insulalingnieiuher 43 is then secured to the insulating member 18 by threading the screws 25? into the conductor-plates 28.

In Figs. 8 to 12, inclusive, I have shown a different type ot wiring base and receptaclc. The wiring basercom prises an insulating member 50 and a pair of bindingterminals 51 supported thereby. The base 50 may be secured in proper pwition with respect to an electrical outlet by means of screws 52 extending through slots 53 in the insulating member 50. Each bindin nal 51 comprises a screw 54 havin its head located in a recess 55 in the lower ace of the insulating member 50 and threaded into a conducting-plate 56 located in a recess in the upper face of the insulating member 50. The recess in which the C(illtlththF-Plfltfl 56 is located may be filled with a suitable insulating compound 57.

The receptacle portion comprises an insulating member 58, a center contact 5'3, and

a cylindrical threadedshell contact supported by the insulating member 58. The centercontact 59 is secured to the insulatin member 58 by means of an eyelet 61. of meta The center contact 59 is electrically connected with the conducting-plute 56 through the eyelet G1 and screw 62 which is threaded into the conducting-plate 56. The screw 62 also serves to mechanically connect the insulating member 58 with the insulating member 50.

The threaded shell contact 60 is electrically connected with one of the conductingplates 56 by means of a s-rew 63 extending through an opening in the flange portion 64 of the. threaded shell and threaded into the conducting-plate 56. This screw 63 also serves to hold the insulating member 58 in place with respect to the insulating number 50. The shank of the screw 63 between the head and the threaded portion is reduced so as to pass easily through the 0 swing in the tlange portion 64 of the throw ed shell, but the threaded portion of the screw 63 is of such diameter that it must be threaded through the opening in the flange portion 64. By this construction the screw 63 is prevented from falling out of the threaded-shell contact 60 when it is unscrewed from the conducting-plate 56.

A friction washer (35 serves to prevent the screw 62 from dropping out of the eyelet 61 when the screw, is screwed out of the conducting-plate 56.

g-termh The threaded-shell contact 60 is secured tact, and a wire spri 7 In order to-grip a lamp-base or other device which is screwed mto the threadedshell contact 60, the contact 60 is rovided with a pair of o posed slots 67 w ich follow the thread in the threaded-shell con- 68 is mounted so as to have a portion exten ing through this slot into en agement with the lamp-base or other inserta 1e "device. The wire spring has one end 69 turned up, and the other end 70 turned down, and these ends 69 and 70 are located in grooves 71 in the insulating mem ber 58.

The circuit is from one of the bindingscrews 54, through the conductor-plate 56, screw 62, eyelet 61, center contact 59, translating device, shell contact 60, screw 63, and inding-plate 56 to the other bindingscrew 54.

Either the nick-detachable receptacle 16 or the screw-s ell receptacle shown in Fig. 8 may be used withthe wiri base 15 of Fig. 1 or with the wiring base s own inFi 8. The screws 37 shown in Fig. 3 may removed and the insulating base 31 separated from the insulating base 18, and t e insulating base 58 of Fi 8 may then be secured to the insulatingiase 18 by means of the screws 62 and 63. The screwing in of the screws 62 and 63 makes the mechanical connection between the two insulating bases and also makes the electrical connection between the receptacle contacts and the hinding-terminals.

This application is a continuation, sofar as concerns common subject-matter claimed herein, of my ending application Serial No. 823,234, filed March 7, 1914, for an improvement in lamp sockets.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent'of the United States:

1. An electrical socket comprising a twopart insulating base, comprising u per and ower parts separable substantia y on a plane transverse of the axis of the socket,

shell and enter contacts mounted on the lower base part, wiring terminals for said contacts mounted on said base, the u per base part having an axial opening I; erethrough for the feed wires leading to said wiring terminals, said base parts having longitudinally extending registering openings tberethrough, and means for securing said base parts together and electrically connecting one of said contacts with one of said wiring terminals, comprising a screw-extending through said registering openings, and havin its head accessible for operation from within said threaded shell contact.

2. An electrical socket comprising a two part insulating base comprising ufiper and ower parts separable substantia y on a plane transverse of the axis of the socket, shell and center contacts mounted on the lower base part, wiring terminals for said contacts mounted on said base, the upper base part having an axial opening therethrough for the feed wires leading to said wiring terminals, said base parts having longitudinallyextending registering openings therethrough, and means for securing said base parts together, and electrically connecting said shel contact with one of said wiring terminals, comprising ascrew extending through said registering openings, and having its head accessible for op eration from within saidthreaded shell contact.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name. 

